where in the constitution does it say that all citizens should have the same rights?

Answer 1

All men are created equal and are endowed......
Why shouldn't they all have the same rights ?
Read "Animal Farm" - some are more equal than others.

Answer 2

The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from denying any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. See U.S. Const. amend. XIV In other words, the laws of a state must treat an individual in the same manner as others in similar conditions and circumstances.

However, equal protection under law isn't exactly the same thing as "equal rights" which is a broader concept...

PS Apparently a lot of people don't know the difference between the Constituion and the Declaration of Independence -- The Declaration says "all men are created equal", the constituton does not.

Also, the Bill of Rights = Amendments 1 - 10

Answer 3

It's implied by the fact that nowhere in the Constitution does it say that all citizens *don't* have the same rights. Nor is there anywhere in the Constitution where it states or even implies that certain citizens have *more* rights than others.

Unfortunately, like the Bible, the US Constitution has been bastardized repeatedly by the US court system interpreting it in ways that best suit those doing the interpretation.

Answer 4

This is a very interesting question.

Most people wrongly believe that this in contained in the bill of rights. However, the bill of rights is a very finite list of rights, legally known as enumerated rights. This enumerated list does not for example address privacy, or driving a automobile or gaining access to an abortion. all of this is clearly missing.

Terefore ...congress amended the constitution with the ninth amendment.

Here it is....The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Exciting huh....but what it says is that just because we have named certain rights we are not saying you can be denied all your other rights as a citizen.

Hence, the legislatures and the supreme court who constantly review what exactly is our rights in this country. They are too great to enumerate, but all citizens have them and we are free.

Hope that helps some.

Answer 5

Not in the Constitution. Indeed they did not think to give equal rights to the Native Americans or the slaves.

But the idea that all persons have equal rights under law is clear in the Declaration of Independence. When they say "all men are created equal" they mean equal in rights. This comes from John Locke and other thinkers of the Enlightenment, and it is also in the Oration of Pericles of Athens, 432 BC.

Answer 6

The 14th Amendment. Equal protection clause. It was implied earlier, in general terms in various documents " all men are created equal", etc. But the 14th tidied it up. Any citizen has the same rights and protections as every other citizen.

Answer 7

It doesn't say that specifically in the constitution. The Declaration of Independence says: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Answer 8

It never comes out and says that other than when it says, all men are created equal. However, after that there was still slavery and women still couldn't vote and didn't get paid the same as men, they still don't. The 14Th Amendment is what "freed blacks" but also made corporations human beings with equal rights.

Answer 9

Several sections touch on the topic. These first two are broad statements of equality.

Article IV Section II states, "The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States."

Ammendment XIV, Section I states, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

The following are more specific and serve to ensure that a particular segment of the population is included for a specific function.

Amendment XV states, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."

Amendment XIX states, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

Amendment XXVI states, "The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age."

Answer 10

The Fourteenth Amendment comes closest.